HORSE
by Mister Pineapple
Summary: (AUshonen-ai) A beast of burden, a back-and-forth game. How many shots can you take before you break? SasuNaru
1. Won

Warm up exercise:

I will lay the book on the table. The prosecutor tried to lay the blame on him.

He lies on the beach all day. I will lie down.

I laid the book on the table. The prosecutor has laid the blame on him.

He lay on the beach all day. He has lain on the beach all day. I lay down. I have lain down.

I am laying the book on the table. The prosecutor is laying the blame on him. He is lying on the beach. I am lying down.

* * *

Pineapple's moody, post-having-one-of my-knuckles-removed gripe: If I read "a single tear ran down his/her/its eye" I'd probably snap, or, more than likely, get mildly crabby before forgetting and moving on.

Would you believe listening to the Lum: Urusei Yatsura soundtracks actually helped me through the tough parts of this story?

Don't know how, but I woke up one morning wanting to finish this fic. I know I'm supposed to be working on Vogue and Eclipse and (maybe) getting a life, but geez, this thing is scrabbling around in my brain, begging to be unleashed upon the unsuspecting world! It was kind of hard too, because I had to do some research into the main conflict, and since I'm no war buff, please KINDLY point out any errors (although since it's alternate universe, I can write most of it off as a product of my big juicy brain).

I just hope I can pull this off.

Naruto: Don't own it, but I did hope to be credited one day as the beloved person who bought the American distribution rights and spread the anime love-thang all around the U.S. of A. But nooooo- stupid VIZ beat me to it. And let me just make this clear: If they bastardize the anime and new authors start posting fics based on those awful releases, I'm not going to be a pleasant pineapple. It's bad enough what happened to Inu-Yasha, I can't even force myself to watch the English version! Grumble What the hell kind of name is Kilala...? And why does Inu-Yasha sound like a stoned nineties beach bum?

"Honky Cat" is the property of Elton John. I love him just because he appeared on the Muppet Show.

A.U.takes place in the U.S. in the early 70's Yaoi: some psychological problems; drug/torture references, and that general weirdness that I'm known for.

* * *

It was 1973, and seventeen-year-old Sasuke couldn't stand the world. Not that he had anything against it personally, it's just all those... those people (if you could call them that) looked and acted and (oh, gawd) SMELLED in a way that went against everything he had ever been taught in his life.

Men with long hair to the left of him.

Women without brassieres to the right.

And all of holy hell surrounding him.

Now, he was a fair man. Certainly, he came from an ultraconservative family. The girls crossed their ankles and kept 'em that way, and wouldn't be caught dead wearing pants of any sort. The men in his family were born men, never going through that phase called boyhood. Father brought home the bacon, mother fried it up in a pan, and didn't complain one bit. Itachi, his older brother, had even exceeded his family's vision of manhood by joining the army.

In fact, Itachi was expected home any day now, fresh from the jungles of Vietnam. When they had seen him off, the men of his family didn't so much as drop a tear as they gave their possibly final farewells. And true to their femininity, the women of the family gushed like waterfalls. Crewcuts and handkerchiefs had abounded.

Sasuke himself, however, wasn't as staunch as his other menfolk. He was pretty easy going, but only because he didn't really care about other people. People like him, who wore button down shirts and penny loafers, and had never worn, much less owned a pair of jeans in their life, he could ignore easily. But with people like that, who didn't shower and lived in their ponchos and had a weird smell that made him sneeze, it was no wonder he was at least mildly irritated.

Then again, even those outrageous people rated only so high on his scandal meter. Being around them only irked him the slightest bit, at least, when compared to-

_-GET BACK HONKY CAT- LIVING IN THE CITY AIN'T WHERE IT'S AT–_

"HEY, ASSHOLE! MOVE YER ASS!"

Speak of the blonde devil. The one person who could actually grate Sasuke's nerves and successfully get a rise out of him was currently half dangling out a car window. Blaring music and belching exhaust fumes in a timely manner, the beat up vehicle with wooden side-panels and mismatched doors sat idly in the street, having been stopped by one of the sign-toting marijuana monkeys Sasuke had been grumbling about. The hippie stood his ground in front the automobile, blathering at the yowling boy.

"Like, save the rain forest-"

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE FRICKIN' RAINFOREST! I GOT PLACES TO BE, SO MOVE IT YOU-"

"Mother Nature cares for you, and she, like, cries every time you litter and pollute the air-"

"POLLUTE THE AIR! MOTHER NATURE CRYING! I'LL GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO CRY ABOUT! I'M RUNNING LATE YOU DUMB SUNNOVA-"

Apparently tiring of his tirade, the blonde pulled himself back into the driver's seat and veered around the hippie, causing a few cars in the opposite lane to slam on their brakes and smother his assailant in exhaust fumes. "What the hell are you smilin' at Uchiha?" He growled out an open window as he slowed at the bus stop Sasuke was standing at. Without waiting for a reply, he sped off.

_Smiling_? _Him_? As he boarded the bus, Sasuke couldn't help but touch his lips, and sure enough they were shaped in a light smirk.

_What was that all about?_

Soon enough, Sasuke reached his stop in front of the Veteran's Center, where he went every day for the past month to find out when his brother would arrive.

Taka-

Tama-

Tashi-

Ubi-

Uzu-

Scanning the alphabetical list of names, he, unsurprisingly, found nothing even remotely related to "Uchiha". There were quite a few Japanese-American names posted, as the town was mostly populated by the leftovers of WWII internment camps that simply had nowhere else to go, the entire Uchiha family being one of them.

Normally Sasuke left as soon as he finished reading through the list, and he was just about to head for the exit, really, but then something gold flashed in the corner of his eye and he just happened to turn and-

And Naruto Uzumaki was briskly walking through the hallway, a slight bounce in his step and he- he was _smiling_. Not his usual prank-pulling smirk, or his I'm-trying-to-look-innocent grin (which usually follows the prank-pulling smirk), but a real smile. The kind you wear when you know something good was coming to you, or when you're given a compliment from the most unexpected person. An honest, heartfelt smile that had nothing but good will and positive thoughts behind it. A happy smile.

Naruto was smiling, and he looked... good.

Something twitched inside of Sasuke, a strange palpitation of sorts. Loosening his collar, he frowned, then stepped into a nearby bathroom. There was an old sink inside, a cracked mirror above it. The Uchiha turned on the water, making sure it was ice cold before splashing it on his face. Glaring at his reflection, he dismissed whatever happened as nothing.

Yeah. Nothing.

He allowed himself some breathing time before returning to the empty hallway and returning home. Passing through the main doors, he found himself confronted by a familiar jalopy, parked so close to the sidewalk entrance of the building that the front passenger tire was resting on top of the curb. Naruto himself was helping someone into the car, talking happily and evenly, and generally not being the person Sasuke was used to being annoyed by. Speaking of which, Naruto didn't even notice the staring brunette.

Satisfied that his passenger was seated, he closed the door and strode to the driver's side, carefully pulling away as soon as his door was closed and the car had puttered to life.

Riding with Naruto was an older blonde man, a person who looked classy where Naruto looked grubby, but the similarities in appearance were enough to tell that there was some relation between them. His eyes were glazed and his face looked a bit slack, but as the car eased into traffic his eyes caught and held Sasuke's. He smiled pleasantly, then the car was gone.

Takahashi

Tamamura

Tashima

Ubiwa

Uzu_maki_

Sasuke didn't really remember the bus ride and walk home. The whole way there his mind was reeling over the fact that there was someone related to the idiot. Well, it was dumb to think he had birthed himself, but Sasuke never really thought about Naruto being connected to someone. After all, the braggart boasted about every deed he had ever done. But never once, as far as Sasuke knew, had he mentioned his family.

It was actually a lot easier to imagine him alone.

* * *

Well! It certainly has been a while! This story was started well over a year ago, before Vogue and Eclipse and, well, pretty much before any of my brain farts even farted. It's actually one huge story, but I'm breaking it down into chapters because (you choose): 

A: Long stories are great, but no too easy on the eyes.

B: I love to torture people with endless waiting.

While I disagree with the latter, I'm sure other people's opinions differ... BUT! This is one of my favorites, so I'm really trying to keep this one regular!


	2. too

Return of the dreaded warm up exercise:

Their: Pertaining to; designating ownership. _It's their cd player._

There: General direction. _The cd player is over there._

They're: They are. _They're going to play a new cd for us_.

_They're going to listen to their cd player over there. _

_

* * *

_

YAAAAWN... me tired. Me no talk too long.

Refer to first chapter for standard diclaimer/rant. The feeling is still there, I'm just too lazy to go into it.

* * *

"Uchiha...Uchiha... Oo-chee-ha...Sa-soo-kay, right? No? Oh, it's pronounced Sah-skay? Really? I guess you have to slur the s..." The nameless guidance counselor made small talk more to himself than anything, but his choice of discussing Sasuke's name really irritated the boy. What was so hard about saying his name? When he was a kid he'd pretend he was a snake and spend hours in front of the bathroom mirror hissing "Sssaassskay" and making faces. That was before his brother started teasing him about being vain. 

_Ssssaaassssssssskay-_ His mind wandered.

"Oh! Bingo!" The man exclaimed, flourishing a file adorned with the Uchiha name and a coffee ring. He thumbed through it, scanning old records before moving to the next page. Overcome with interest, Sasuke leaned over and managed to briefly glimpse "Does not work well with others" before the page was turned.

"Mmhmm, mmhmm, mmhhmmmmmm..." Mister Guidance Counselor mumbled, nodding as he read through a seemingly important page.

"Well, Sah-skay, I bet you're wondering why I called you in here." He smiled, waggling his eyebrows like he was going to reveal the meaning of life. Sasuke knew exactly why he was called in, but decided that if telling him why he was in the dingy little office was the highlight of this guy's day, who was he to ruin it?

So he settled on shrugging in confusion.

"Well, part of this school's motto is 'Excellence in academics, athletics, and community spirit'. So much so that our students are required to fill one hundred hours of community service before they can graduate." Guidance Counselor Man busied himself looking through a stuffed Rolodex. "Unfortunately, you are the only student we had trouble placing." A card was removed, looking fresh and new compared its battered and dog-eared brothers.

"As luck would have it, just yesterday someone called for a volunteer, and the job is perfect for you." Sasuke translated that to: Like it or leave it, chump. It's all we've got left.

He grunted by way of saying yes, and the man began prattling off the seriousness of responsibility and growing up, and he should be proud of taking another step into the world and blah blah blah.

Eventually he discussed Sasuke's new duties, the gist of it taking care of some old dude and doing light housework.

Finally he was done, and the Uchiha rushed to sign some forms before he decided to yak some more. The card was transferred from the adult's sweaty hand into his own, and he grabbed his bag and ran for it.

Geez! He'd been called into the office shortly after lunch, and when he was finally released, school was already over.

"Talk, talk, talk..." He muttered to himself. Glancing at his watch, he figured he had time for a quick trip to introduce himself to his new charge. The address listed wasn't too far from the school.

* * *

It may not have been out of his way, Sasuke decided when he reached the right address, but it was somewhat on the 'lower' end of town. Not that it was in the worst part, but if the scale was from Sasuke's decidedly 'nice' area to the seediest neighborhoods, the house was somewhere in the middle. 

He stood rooted on the sidewalk, unsure of what to do. Should he, y'know... _knock_? But the town was primarily Japanese American, and old country custom dictates one should introduce themselves inside the entryway. Then again, he wasn't even sure the family was Asian. There was no name on the card, just an address and brief description of his duties.

_ Man, what if it's a gang of thieves? I could be walking into a den of kidnappers or something... _

As some nameless genius once said: "All questions answer themselves."

"Hey, kid. Are you gonna come in or should I call you my new lawn ornament?"

* * *

Preview for the next chapter: 

"**JUST YOU WAIT, UCHIHA SASUKE!**" He bellowed, blonde hair whipping around as he shook his head in fury. "**I'LL MAKE YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH ME YET!**" Determination flared in his eyes, making his glower radiate.

Naruto didn't have to try so hard.

_His heart was thumping._

Sasuke already had it bad.

**Yeah right! ** Since when have I included previews?


End file.
